Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
March,  19 19.  f 
Advances  in  Pharmacy. 
163 
obtained  of  the  comparative  strength  of  antiseptics  and  the  length  of 
time  during  which  they  are  active  when  applied  to  human  tissues  in 
the  presence  of  infection. — Annals  of  Surgery,  Philadelphia,  vol.  3. 
1918,  68. 
Carbon  Tetrachloride  Vapor  as  a  Delousing  Agent. — Dr.  Foster, 
of  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service,  gives  out  a  preliminary 
report  on  experiments  for  the  destruction  of  lice  in  clothing  by  the 
vapor  of  carbon  tetrachloride.  Heat  and  hydrocyanic  gas  are  un- 
doubtedly the  best  agents  for  this  purpose,  but  require  a  rather  com- 
plicated apparatus  for  their  use  and  can  be  used  to  advantage  only 
where  the  work  is  to  be  done  on  a  large  scale.  The  experiments 
were-  undertaken  to  find  some  agent  that  could  be  used  anywhere 
and  for  small  operations.  Carbon  tetrachloride  vapor  was  found  to 
be  effective  after  two  hours  exposure  with  the  clothing  rather  closely 
packed  in  a  tin  or  other  vessel  that  is  air-tight,  in  an  amount  of  25 
mils..  The  clothing  to  be  disinfected  should  not  occupy  more  than 
half  or  two  thirds  of  the  containing  vessel.  In  these  experiments 
only  the  lice  were  killed.  The  nits  were  only  partly  killed,  but  their 
hatching  was  delayed.  The  method  evolved  was  simple ;  the  ma- 
terial was  packed  in  the  can,  on  top  of  which  was  placed  several 
layers  of  filter  paper,  on  which  was  poured  the  carbon  tetrachloride. 
The  can  was  then  covered  with  several  thicknesses  of  toweling  and 
a  loose  cover  placed  over  this.  In  some  experiments,  the  lice-in- 
fested material  was  wrapped  tightly  in  papers ;  various  combina- 
tions of  carbon  tetrachloride  with  gasoline  were  also  tried  out.  It 
was  found,  however,  that  unadulterated  carbon  tetrachloride  was 
more  effective  and  the  lice  were  always  killed  in  about  the  time 
mentioned.  At  the  present  price  of  carbon  tetrachloride,  the  cost 
for  treatment  of  the  clothing  of  a  single  soldier  will  amount  to  from 
one  and  a  half  to  five  cents. — Public  Health  Reports,  October  25, 
191S. 
